FieryOpal -> RE: What's the deal with pain? (11/9/2014 7:41:02 AM)
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ORIGINAL: orgasmdenial12 Subspace is a hypothesised state that some submissives claim to have experienced during pain play. There is no objective scientific evidence for 'subspace' and accounts from submissives differ considerably. Subspace is typically explained as a kind of 'runners high' which is a state of feeling joy and powerfulness whilst exercising, that is believed to be caused by endorphins produced by the brain. However, the reported effects of 'subspace' can differ wildly from runners high, making this association tenuous at best. The best way that I, personally, can explain subspace is that it is a feeling of unexpected enjoyment from or tolerance for pain that is experienced by some submissives during play. My own personal belief is that it is largely unrelated to endorphins and is instead linked to sexual excitement, mild shock and / or BDSM cultural conditioning. Whatever the cause of subspace, it is usually reported as a pleasurable and desirable state that submissives enjoy experiencing and Doms enjoy inducing. I would hardly think there could be a reliable scientific methodology for detecting subspace. Not that it couldn't be done somehow like with sleep studies, but how many BDSM couples would agree to volunteer or come forward for such a clinical study, and how would you maintain a control group? There are 2 kinds of responses I have seen which I would classify as subspace. With my husband, he became uncharacteristically passive and zoned out, then acted punchdrunk afterwards. I did notice with my husband that he had a sort of grogginess where he didn't have total memory recall of what we had done. With my last sub, he appeared to be in a euphoric state brought on by what could only be the release of endorphins, such as both you and DesFIP have described as a "runner's high." Since he did not try to get up and move the way my husband had done, and we both preferred to lay there and cuddle, I can't comment on the immediate aftereffects other than he did not want to be left alone, enjoyed being comforted, and didn't have any memory lapses from what I could tell.
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